


Storm Stories

by FanFicReader01



Series: The Library Chronicles [17]
Category: Poets of the Fall
Genre: Adventures, Backstory, Bedtime Stories, Children, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ficlet, Oneshot, Post-Apocalypse, Slice of Life, Storytelling, Zombies, stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27451135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanFicReader01/pseuds/FanFicReader01
Summary: “Anybody wants to hear a fun story?” the Captain holds up the book, despite knowing its content would probably be too boring for these children. A few kids are still hesitant, hiding next to each other or behind their parents.“I think Captain Kaarlonen can always tell adventurous stories,” one of their mothers encourages with a nudge.
Series: The Library Chronicles [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1885000
Comments: 4
Kudos: 1





	Storm Stories

**Author's Note:**

> We get more insight and story for our beloved Captain Kaarlonen!

Darkness has hugged the entire environment in black clouds and grey rain. But the Captain is safe in the small hotel nearby the docks. Most people who stayed on his Ferry are now here as well. While some people have already gone to their room, a small company stays in the larger communal room.

Markus is browsing the small book case in the corner. In the background there are a few adults chattering. To his surprise, some kids are still awake and are running around. When the storms outside really begin to set, it clearly halts the kids’ excitement. They clutch to each other and tremble each time thunder rolls are heard. It’s not odd and weird to be afraid of the storms. Some can be super devastating but the last few years, the people in the North have been lucky. But humans remain cautious and almost all buildings have fortifications. Still, kids should be kids. Even in a world that’s too cruel for them.

Markus sighs, closes the naval book he’d taken from the shelf and thuds down in the nearest armchair. He coughs, trying to get the attention from the kids. “Ahem… Aye, landlubbers!” That peaks their interest.

“Anybody wants to hear a fun story?” the Captain holds up the book, despite knowing its content would probably be too boring for these children. A few kids are still hesitant, hiding next to each other or behind their parents.

“I think Captain Kaarlonen can always tell adventurous stories,” one of their mothers encourages with a nudge.

“I believe so too,” another adult says. When Markus looks up, he sees it’s the Finnish radio host of Jealous Gods. He nods in acknowledgement. Soon all the kids flock to Markus and thud down on cushions around him.

“Hmm… What can the good ol’ Captain tell you today, hm?” Markus asks out loud. He’s seen many adventures and dangers throughout his sailing career. Plenty to choose from but they shouldn’t be too scary. But he can tone down the narrative, keep out some gruesome elements. In the end, he has to merely distract these kids from the raging storms outside.

“Tell us about your travels!” A kid with gingery hair exclaims.

An older kid sniggers: “Tell us about the bees and… and flowers.”

That makes Markus laugh out loud. “I don’t think that’s a fun story for you kids”

“What happened to your eye?” A girl with braids asks, blatantly gawking at the Captain’s milky eye.

“Oh this?” he points and then rubs his beard as if in deep thought. “That’s an interesting story, young lady!”

_“But first, I’ll have you kids know that it’s okay to be afraid of the storm. Just don’t let the storm know that. When I was your age, heck, even now I still fear nature and for good reason. But that doesn’t mean you’re completely defenceless. There are ways to fight back and protect yourself. But let’s not talk about that today, shall we? Today, I, Captain Kaarlonen will tell you the story of how I fought a Varmint and lost my eye!”_

“You fought those monsters that lurk out there?!” another girl exclaims. When Markus nods, all kids just stare with their mouths agape. It’s an endearing but funny sight.

_“Yes, I did. I must’ve been in my early thirties when I finally managed to get my own boat.”_

“Does the boat have a name too?” the ginger kid asks. Markus grins.

“Of course. You _always_ have to name your own ship or boat. It’s a direct bound you’ll create. Her name was Miss Impossible Zero. The one I’m staying on now? She’s already the third! I’ve faced many dangers with these girls.”

“Captain Kaarlonen, you’re so cool!” the girl with braids is clearly a small but big fan already.

_“So here I was, finally having my own boat. That’s a big thing because up until then, I was always just a crew mate on a bigger ship with many people. I’d never been a Captain before. It’s like… finally getting that big toy, you couldn’t have before.”_ When it doesn’t give too much reaction from the children, Markus continues. _“I had invited over a few friends to go sail with me. Everyone was excited and we stopped at a small isle to have a picnic. I realised I had forgotten some ingredients so I went into the small town, deeper into the island while my friends patiently waited for me to return.”_

“And theeen? Did something happen?” the kids almost ask simultaneously.

_“Yes. Something bad happened!”_ That immediately earns him a few shrieks and gasps from his audience. “What happened?!!”

_“When I came back, a wild Varmint_ bear _had suddenly popped up on the beach. And it was attacking my friends!”_

“No! Did people get hurt?”

_“Luckily not. They could fend off the beast by sticks. But we had been reckless and kept some of our weapons in the boat which was now off limits by the raging Varmint.”_

“So did you fight the bear, Captain?” one of the boys wants to know but Markus hushes him.

_“We’ll get there, young man. I saw my friends screaming and running. I was shocked and my basket with food fell into the sand. I had to think and act quickly. I duck to the soil and looked in my basket to see if there was food in there to distract the Varmint. Luckily, I had bought some sausages so I took them out and ran to the beach. In one hand the string of sausages, the other hand armed with a simple knife. It would not be enough to defeat the bear, I knew but I had to safe my friends and Miss Impossible no matter what. The Varmint quickly got eye for me and I had to run like crazy. “Get to the boat! Get our weapons!” I kept yelling. The Varmint was big but bulky and surprisingly slow. But I knew, if it’d hit me, I could be done for!”_

The children are al quiet, now more hurdled together. Markus eases his posture and sighs.

_“Don’t worry. This story has a good ending. See? I’m here and my friends are okay too. So, there I was having a standoff with an angry bear. I managed to evade and sometimes scratch it with my weak knife. It surely angered the Varmint. Maybe that was not a good idea. I threw the sausages and the Varmint sniffed them, but apparently did not care enough. It was clearly after_ us _. Now, here’s a good reminder kids to never let your guard down when facing a Varmint or Critter or human enemy. One of my friends called me, saying he had a gun. My mistake was looking away from the big angry bear. Too late, I saw it mash its paw and it scratched my eye.”_

All kids scream in shock. Again, Markus tries to shush them.

_“Remember, the story has a good ending! Despite my now wounded eye, I managed to grab the gun my friend threw at me. With only one working eye, I aim the gun at the Varmint and manage to take it down.”_

“How many shots did it take?”

_“Five. But mind you, I couldn’t see properly and was off balance. But the Varmint did not manage to get me again. So it was only my eye that got hurt. After I took the bear down, my friends came for me. They took care of my wound and got the abandoned basket. We got back into the town to have my wound properly treated. And that, children, is how Captain Kaarlonen lost his eye, by defending dear ones and his girl Miss Impossible Zero.”_

The children now clap and cheer. Even some parents applaud. The young audience seems to have forgotten about the storms outside.

“You’re a brave man, Captain,” the little girl with braids says, eyes lit with excitement and astonishment. The other kids are equally in utter awe of the older man.

Markus smiles. “It’s thanks to my friends that I became so brave. My deep will to protect my dear ones made me strong in the face of adversity. Remember that kids, if you love someone deeply, you _will_ want to protect them. And you can.”

“Admirable,” the ginger kid sighs and smiles brightly.

Markus nods and thanks the kids. “Hup, hup now, it’s time for you kids to go to bed.” Of course, it’s met with some protest from the children but their parents collect them and bring them to their cabins. They thank the Captain for keeping their kids company and give them something to distract them from the storm. Markus makes a little bow and takes up his book on ships again. Now Miika approaches him.

“That was quite the story, Captain Kaarlonen.”

“You know you can call me Markus,” the older man chuckles.

“So… That story is entirely true, right?” Miika wants to know and Markus nods.

“Yeah. But I left out some bloodier details.” It attracts more interest from the radio host. “I let out the part where one of my other friends got heavily injured and lost their foot.”

“Dang, but did they recover?”

“Luckily, yes. And I’m glad I recovered too. We were both afraid we’d contracted the Disease. But only my friend had gotten a bit of a fever but that didn’t last long.”

“What a relief,” Miika mutters. “Thanks for that story, Markus. I’ll leave you be now. I’m going to bed.”

“Okay, thanks. I like telling these stories. So, good night, Miika. See you around!” Markus waves the other man goodbye and opens the book. He’ll read a few paragraphs and then sleep too. tomorrow he has to return to his Ferry, hoping Mother Nature spared her.


End file.
